Thinking out loud & Shifting perspective

Life is about constantly needing to shift perspective. That's how we change and grow. This can involve a mental shift. For example, changing an opinion, or discovering something new, which , as a matter of course, changes the way we "see" something. Or... it can be literal. For example, turning an object around, or standing on one's head. Thus, we understand the thing from a different angle, or, we "see" it in a totally new light.

And I'm thinking, this weekend (clunk, clunk, clunk... The Machine Stops...) about how shifting perspective is really the essence of Art. And of Life too for that matter! And possibley everything else? Since Science seems to work that way as well.

Therefore, does it follow that a "good" artist, is he/she who is successful in making that happen through their art? Which would basically equal human dialogue. And maybe then, a "good" person, is he/she who is succesful in making that happen through their Life (Living)? Which would basically equal human dialogue. The art of living... Living art.... Maybe that's why so many of us blog? Which, basically, equals human dialogue. And maybe that's what we're all looking in the end? Human dialogue! or at least to have communicated something to someone, and to have been understood, while we were here. Which is kind of an odd concept to be coming from a person who is rather a hermit :}

Hmmm.... Interesting!

Shifting perspectives can happen on a grand scale, changing our thoughts on huge, often controversial, human topics, such as sex, religion, or war (and yes, probably in that order!) Or, it can be in a small - but nevertheless totally significant - way, leading us to the point of, "Oh!... I never thought of it [saw it] that way before ". Personally, I like that kind best. In either case... Behold... the doors of perception begin to open! And no, I've never read Huxley, and I don't use non-perscription drugs! :}

What-If?...

What if... I lie on my back... and take pictures of what I see? Yes! I like the simplicity of that!



















Me, on my back (again) ;}

Another great feature of Photoshop is Filters. Try playing with the "cut-out" option. A useful tool to artists and especially cloth makers, as it helps us to "see" the different planes of a subject. for example, with this new image above, I could easily come up with a self-portrait in cloth or stitches. The question being... would I want to? :}















OMG.... The trees are about to fall over!















I stared at this scene through the view finder of my camera for quite a while, and managed to convince my brain that I was really looking down into water, then seeing leaves floating on the surface, and branches below it. That was wild!















The trunk of a Ceropia tree. Amazing textures and could form the basis for an interesting abstract image.















The belly of a miniature hummingbird perched on a twig above me. Nature from below! It looks very neat! Imagine that you were going to paint, sketch, make an image on cloth on that theme. Actually, that would be a fabulous challenge to put out there! So I'll do that this week!

Do you have any idea what a bird looks like from underneath?... What is it's shape from that angle?... What about a butterfly drifting above you?... Do it's legs dangle down, or does it pull them up, like an aircraft's wheels?

I found that while I was concentrating my vision on the big blue beyond, my range of vision suddenly became like a fish-eye lens, and I was seeing everything as within a circle, with branches and leaves entering from all around. That was very cool! I think I might work on that idea some more! And when I'm done with that, I should probably visit my opthomologist!